Page 6 of The Night Ride
“Want one?”
“Already started on one, but you might as well grab me another.”
I snagged two longnecks and popped the tops before setting one on the kitchen island.
“Appreciate it.”Wyatt nodded.
“Need me to do anything.”I gestured with my beer toward the meat.
“Nope.I got it.”
“Any idea what Evan sent?”
“Nope.I gotta start the barbecue grill.”Wyatt left me standing in the kitchen with more questions than answers.
He and Evan were tight.Knowing Wyatt that little display was as close to emotional as the fucker ever got.I chugged half the beer standing beside the fridge.Drunken oblivion would be far easier than dealing with the leaded weight of grief.I’d reserve that for another day.
I’d buried too many fucking friends these past eighteen years.
“Hey dude.”Lucas swaggered into the kitchen with his rucksack.
“Sup.”We pounded fists.
“Please tell me there’s more where that came from.”Lucas chin nodded toward my now half empty beer.
“Fridge is full for now.”Ben or James would likely bring more too.For a day like today, we would be shitfaced before nightfall.It’s simply how it went when we hosted a wake for one of our own.
“Thank fuck.”Lucas didn’t even drop his rucksack, just marched to the fridge and snagged a cold one.
“I took the big spare bedroom.Might want to drop your sack in one of the others before James and Ben arrive.”
Lucas toasted me with his beer.“Good deal.I had to cancel that date with the nurse.Took a little longer than anticipated.Might have to cut her loose.”
“Why?I thought you liked her.”
Lucas winced.“Getting a little too clingy for my tastes.”
“Only because you’re a ho.”Not that I was the settling down type either after my marriage went south.But Lucas took hound dogging to a new level.
“You know it.Be right back.”Lucas strolled out of the kitchen, beer in hand, disappearing down the hall to claim one of the two remaining guest rooms.
Granted only one of them was made up as a guestroom, while the other was an office with a sofa bed.
While Lucas got situated in the other spare bedroom, I mainlined the rest of my beer.Set the empty in the recycle bin.Then grabbed another and strode outside.
On the picnic table I spied a tan package with shipping labels and my knees wanted to give out.What the hell had he sent?
Morbidly curious, I headed over and sat on one of the lounge chairs.Wyatt had expanded the concrete porch with gravel and stone pavers.He’d added a fire pit that was already lit even though the sun was still shining.With the privacy fence enclosing the yard, he’d turned it into a private oasis.It made me think that perhaps I should look into buying a house.Yet I didn’t know if I wanted to stick around when my twenty was up if I didn’t re-enlist.Norfolk felt too temporary, and I didn’t see parting with my hard earned cash for a house I didn’t plan to stay in.
“Like what you did back here, Wyatt.The place is looking good.”
“Appreciate it.”Wyatt was a man of few words.
“When’s the last time you spoke to him?”I didn’t say his name, but I didn’t have too.We both knew who I meant.
Wyatt glanced my way.His somber gaze full of the more emotion than I’d seen him display in years.“Two weeks ago.And no, I had no idea he was that close to the wire.You?”
“Month ago.None of us knew.Did the Navy forget to contact his family?”I wanted to know why Beth didn’t make it for her brother’s funeral.If they couldn’t locate his next of kin that would make more sense.
